Technical Field
The present invention relates to methods, systems, and apparatuses for auto-detection and adaptive configuration of high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) ports.
Background Art
High-definition multimedia interface, or HDMI, is one of the fastest growing interfaces for audio and video consumption in the world today. Several terms are commonly used for HDMI enabled devices. An HDMI source is a device that sends an HDMI signal, such as a digital video disc (DVD) player or Set-top box. An HDMI sink is a device that receives an HDMI signal, such as a high-definition television (HDTV). An HDMI repeater is a device that both receives and sends HDMI signals, such as an audio/video receiver (AVR). AVRs are considered HDMI repeaters.
The HDMI interface has significantly reduced the complexity of connecting multiple audio and video cables between a source and a sink. However with the advent of multiple HDMI based devices like set-top boxes, gaming consoles, Blu-ray® players, AVR and streaming devices like Roku® and Chromecast®, and/or the like, the living room digital setup has become further complicated.
An HDMI repeater is commonly used to navigate through the above-mentioned complexity, but HDMI repeaters have their own shortcomings. In current configurations of repeaters, there is a dedicated “output” port that should be connected to a sink device, and pre-designated “input” ports that get connected to different source devices. This typical arrangement is shown as repeater configuration 100 in FIG. 1. Repeater configuration 100 includes a repeater 104 connected to a sink device 102 via an output port ‘O1’ over an HDMI connection 112. Repeater 104 is also connected to a first source device 106 via an HDMI connection 114, to a second source device 108 via an HDMI connection 116, and to a third source device 110 via an HDMI connection 118.
This typical repeater configuration 100 has two major shortcomings. The first is a lack of convenience/ease of doing the setup, and the second is the complexity of interconnection. That is, any incorrect connections can result in a malfunction that wastes an end user's time and also tests the end user's patience thus giving an unsatisfactory user experience.
To understand the complexity involved in a repeater configuration such as repeater configuration 100, the hardware design of a conventional repeater should first be understood. Typical HDMI repeaters use single or multi input/output HDMI transceiver chips (or HDMI receiver chips and HDMI transmitter chips) available from vendors like Analog Devices®, NXP®, Texas Instruments®, etc. A typical configuration scheme for a one input port and one output port HDMI transceiver is shown in configuration scheme 200 of FIG. 2. Configuration scheme 200 includes repeater 104 of repeater configuration 100 of FIG. 1. Configuration scheme 200 of FIG. 2 can be distinctly broken into three sub-schemes: a configuration scheme 202, a signal conditioning scheme 204, and a connector scheme 206. Configuration scheme 202 includes an HDMI transceiver 208 that includes an input component 210 and an output component 212. Signal conditioning scheme 204 includes a conditioning input circuit 214 and a conditioning output circuit 216. Connector scheme 206 includes a first HDMI connector 218 and a second HDMI connector 220.
As illustrated, first HDMI connector 218 is an input that is wired to the input portion of HDMI transceiver 208 (i.e., through conditioning input circuit 214 to input component 210). Second HDMI connector 220 is an output that is wired to the output portion of HDMI transceiver 208 (i.e., through conditioning output circuit 216 from output component 212). Thus, it may clearly be seen that signal conditioning scheme 204 and configuration scheme 202 have been designed to accept either input or output HDMI signals. For instance, in normal operation, signal conditioning for differential data lines on both input and output ports is similar, however, hot-plug detect signals and +5V lines for HDMI connectors have to be terminated differently. Therefore, the entire architecture of repeater 104 according to configuration scheme 200 is rigid and incapable of dynamic adaptation to different types of input and output connections.